EVERY SATURDAY MORNING we take a look at all the best comments left on the site by our readers over the past seven days.
This week there was a lot of talk about … and your favourite poems.
So here, in no particular order, are the standout comments from the week that was.
The 5 most popular comments this week
1. In top spot with 1,997 thumbs up is Huey, who thinks he has an answer to Ray D’Arcy’s question during the week as to why soup in the RTÉ canteen costs €1.02.
Your soup cost €1.02 because it costs me €160.
2. With 1,885 thumbs up is Jay McGregor who questions the far left supporting the Islamic groups who took part in a demonstration outside a mosque in Clonskeagh.
What I can never get is the far left supporting the Islamic groups who are homophobic and anti women’s rights. It just doesn’t make sense to me. That is the massive contradiction. The same people who (rightly) loathe the Catholic Church for social conservatism on abortion, gay rights issues, call you racist if you object to forced arranged marriages, little girls being sent to school with blankets over their head, death threats against cartoonists, the execution of gay people, the execution of female adulterers, the punishment of rape victims etc. etc. etc. when it happens in the Muslim worldI saw on twitter a photo of the counter protesters holding a sign that said “We are all muslims”. Eh, no we are not. Loons.
3. In third place, with 1,814 thumbs up is Pontius Pilatus who was giving a big pat on the back for all the protesters who turned out last weekend to march against the water charges, especially as the weather was Baltic.
Fair play. It’s f***ing freezing out there.
4. Business Cat scored 1,490 thumbs up on an article about the 116 puppies that were seized at Dublin Port. Brief and to the point:
Please government…. Outlaw puppy farms.
5. With 1,422 thumbs up Conor Conneally gives his viewpoint on our poll on should the ‘Love Ulster’ march go ahead in Dublin.
Willie Frazer is an unpleasant little loyalist sh*t stirrer who’s not the sharpest tool in the box (He once claimed a primary school was an IRA training camp because it had an Italian flag flying out side of it.How about instead of sectarian scrotes looking to cause trouble, we hold an Ulster trade festival in Dublin? Businesses and craftworks from across Ulster’s 9 Counties could use it an opportunity to advertise and present their wares to the nations capital? Musicians and Artists could play and work showing the culture of the ProvinceThen lets have a Love Leinster, Love Munster and Love Connaght festivals doing the same for the other Provinces
The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week
1. Thousands take part in anti-water charge protests across Ireland. (457 Comments)
2. ‘People think I’m the devil for having an abortion, but it’s the only option that’s right for me’. (379 Comments)
3. You WON’T be fined for not registering with Irish Water by midnight. (320 Comments)
4. Jordanian pilot held hostage by Islamic State ‘burned alive’. (296 Comments)
5. Poll: Have you registered with Irish Water? (286 comments)
Debate of the week
Should there be more women in the comments section? Catherine Sims and Jane Travers both think so.
I have to admit I would live to.see more women commenting on certain articles. There are a few who comment on a wide range of articles but not too many. Ailbhe has gotten personal abuse in here but she is well able to hold herein and them some. Jane is an unbelievable devil and can comment on anything and can take on several commenters at once. People may be afraid Emily Elephant will bury them as she usually does. Emily you are female are you? Anyway it’s not that I don’t enjoy the guys I just would like too see more women. I do know also that some names could be either and it’s hard to judge gender. It’s just a personal opinion and I don’t claim any of it as fact.
Praise indeed, Catherine!
I sometimes agree wholeheartedly with you or Sinead, in which case I wind up not commenting; it’s only when I wildly disagree with you that I reply.
I too would like to see more female commenters, particularly older women. I think the comments section here can be a very daunting place for women, though.
What do you think?
Joke of the week
The light on the Spire has been broken for months. To this news, Art Vandelay, responded:
‘Come on baby, light my spire…’
Tip of our cap to you, Art.
Other standout comments of the week
Rachel Ní Leannáin pointed to a lack of empathy being shown to a mother of four whose husband died in prison.
What is wrong with some of you people? She’s not looking to excuse her husband for his crimes, or looking for anyone else to blame. She’s speaking out about the effects it had on her family, in the hope that other offenders consider the consequences and the effects it will have on their families. Yes he died of a heart attack, but the point is that whatever time he had left he spent away from his family in prison, missing important things like the birth of his youngest child. That is how his children will remember him. In prison.This woman is doing her best and has spoken out with the intention of helping people in similar situations to consider their actions more carefully. Irrespective of her husbands character this must be a very painful time for her. She deserves support, not criticism.
On Wednesday, a number of families who had to travel to the UK to terminate much-wanted pregnancies spoke of their experiences. TheLoneHurler said:
As a staunchly Pro-Life person, I would support legislation to alleviate the suffering as accounted by those very unfortunate people in the article and the hundreds of people whos voices are also not heard.In addition to the legislation, I would like to see more counselling before and after for couples who are presented with such a horrific ordeal.The legislation seems to be in keeping with the constitutional requirement to protect life ‘as far as practicable’.
Finally, this post was from Friday night but many readers took to posting their favourite poems which makes for a lovely read.
See any good comments? Send them on to sinead@thejournal.ie
Additional reporting Christina Finn
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say